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Add WAN Wifi Client section (#44)
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Add WAN Wifi Client section
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Steve Lewis KC0EUW authored and ae6xe committed Oct 14, 2019
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12 changes: 10 additions & 2 deletions arednGettingStarted/advanced_config.rst
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Expand Up @@ -85,12 +85,20 @@ WAN Column

The :abbr:`WAN (Wide Area Network)` interface on your node is typically used to connect it to the Internet or to another external network. By default the WAN interface is set to obtain an IP address via DHCP from your upstream network. The :abbr:`DNS (Domain Name System)` servers are set by default to use Google's DNS services and should not be changed under normal circumstances. Google's name resolution servers are configured properly to detect error conditions and report them correctly.

If you are not going to use the WAN interface on your node, you can select *disabled* from the *Protocol* dropdown list. If you will be using your node as a *Tunnel Server*, you should assign the node a *Static* IP address on your WAN network. This will be explained in the *Tunnel Server* section below.
If you are not going to use the WAN interface on your node, you can select *disabled* from the *Protocol* dropdown list. If you will be using your node as a *Tunnel Server*, you should reserve an IP address on your router for the node's WAN interface. This will be explained in the *Tunnel Server* section below.

When a node has Internet access on its WAN interface, that access is available to the node itself and to any computers connected via the LAN port. Checking the *Allow others to use my WAN* box will allow this node to route traffic from all its interfaces to/from the Internet or other external network. This box is unchecked by default because it is not desirable to route Internet traffic over the radio interface. AREDN |trade| is an FCC Part 97 amateur radio network, so be sure that any traffic which will be sent over the radio complies with FCC Part 97 rules. If you want local wireless Internet access, consider using an FCC Part 15 access point instead of the node's WAN gateway.
When a node has Internet access on its WAN interface, that access is available to the node itself and to any computers connected via the LAN port. Checking the *Allow others to use my WAN* box will allow this node to route traffic from *all* its interfaces to/from the Internet or other external network. This box is unchecked by default because it is not desirable to route Internet traffic over the radio interface. AREDN |trade| is an FCC Part 97 amateur radio network, so be sure that any traffic which will be sent over the radio complies with FCC Part 97 rules. If you want local wireless Internet access, consider using an FCC Part 15 access point instead of the node's WAN gateway.

The *Prevent LAN devices from accessing WAN* checkbox will tell the node not to advertise that it can be used as a default gateway. This means that computers on the LAN network will lose their route to the Internet or other networks via your mesh node. This checkbox is deselected by default. If this checkbox is selected your LAN hosts will have no access to the Internet even if your node has Internet access on its WAN interface. You may need to disable the default route if your node needs to be connected to two networks at once, such as being wired to the mesh and connected to a local served agency WiFi network.

.. image:: _images/wifi-as-wan.png
:alt: WiFi as WAN
:align: right

If your node has a radio which is not already being used for Mesh RF or as a LAN AP, you can enable it as a WAN interface by checking the *WAN Wifi Client* checkbox. Enter the SSID and authentication string for your wifi AP which has Internet access. The mesh node uses "WPA2 PSK" encryption to connect to the wifi AP. The password length must be a minimum of 8 and maximum of 64 characters. If the key length is 64, it is treated as hex encoded. If the length is 0, then no encryption will be used to connect to an open AP. A single quote character must not be used in the passphrase.

After you have saved changes and rebooted, the node will have Internet access via wifi rather than requiring a cable plugged into the node's WAN port. In fact, enabling the *WAN Wifi Client* will disable VLAN1, so Internet access will no longer be possible through the physical WAN port.

Node VLANs
^^^^^^^^^^

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